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News from the New York State and Local Retirement System

Tag Archives: Tier 1

NYSLRS, comprised of the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) and Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS), had 652,324 members as of March 31, 2017. Our members are State, local government and school district employees from across New York, including 617,143 in ERS and 35,181 in PFRS. Eighty-one percent of our members are active, which means they were on a public payroll as of March 31.

As new public employees come on board and more Tier 3 and 4 members reach retirement age, Tier 6 is expected to represent the majority of NYSLRS members in a few years.

Tier 6 includes members who joined NYSLRS since April 1, 2012. In just five years, they’ve grown to more than 174,000 members, making up 26.7 percent of total membership.

Here’s a look at our membership by Tier, as of March 31:Tier 1: NYSLRS’ oldest tier, whose members first joined the system before July 1, 1973 (July 31 for PFRS members). Tier 1 now represents only one half of 1 percent of our membership. There are only 54 Tier 1 PFRS members remaining.

Tier 2: With 29,186 members, Tier 2 represents 4.5 percent of membership. More than 87 percent of Tier 2 members are in PFRS.

Tier 3&4: Tiers 3 and 4, which have similar retirement plans, represented nearly 90 percent of membership just seven years ago. The 392,699 Tier 3 and 4 members now make up 60 percent of the total. (Note: There is no Tier 4 in PFRS.)

Tier 5: Tier 5 covers members who joined in a period of a little over two years (January 2010 through March 2012). With 53,118 members, Tier 5 now represents 8.1 percent of membership.

Tier 6: This tier covers both ERS and PFRS members who joined since April 1, 2012. Its ranks have grown by nearly 29 percent over the past year.

Did you become a member of the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) before July 1, 1973? If you’re still working in public service, you’re one of the 3,508 active members in Tier 1. If you joined after July 1, 1973 but before July 27, 1976, then you’re one of 4,127 active members in Tier 2.

Most ERS Tier 1 and Tier 2 members are in the New Career Plan (Section 75-h or 75-i). Currently, 96 percent of active Tier 1 members and almost 95 percent of active Tier 2 members are covered by this plan. Here’s a quick look at the benefits in the New Career Plan:

Benefit Eligibility

Tier 1

Members must be at least age 55 to be eligible to collect a retirement benefit.

There are no minimum service requirements — they may collect full benefits at age 55.

Tier 2

Members must have five years of service and be at least age 55 to be eligible to collect a retirement benefit.

The full benefit age is 62.

Almost 95 percent of active Tier 2 members are covered by the New Career Plan (Section 75-h or 75-i).

Final Average Salary

Final average salary (FAS) is the average of the wages earned in the three highest consecutive years of employment. For Tier 1 members who joined NYSLRS June 17, 1971 or later, each year used in the FAS calculation is limited to no more than 20 percent above the previous year’s earnings. For Tier 2 members, each year of earnings is limited to no more than 20 percent above the average of the previous two years’ earnings.

Benefit Calculations

For Tier 1 and 2 members, the benefit is 1.66 percent of the FAS for each year of service if the member retires with less than 20 years. If the member retires with 20 or more years of service, the benefit is 2 percent of the FAS for each year of service.

Tier 1 members and Tier 2 members with 30 or more years of service can retire as early as age 55 with no reduction in benefits.

Both Tier 1 and Tier 2 members who worked continuously from April 1, 1999 through October 1, 2000 receive an extra month of service credit for each year of credited service they have at retirement, up to a maximum of 24 additional months.

When you joined the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), you were assigned to a tier based on the date of your membership. There are six tiers in the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) and five in the Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) — so there are many different ways to determine benefits for our members. Our series, NYSLRS – One Tier at a Time, walks through each tier and gives you a quick look at the benefits members are eligible for before and at retirement.

One of our smallest tiers is ERS Tier 1, which represents 0.7 percent of NYSLRS’ total membership. Overall, there are 4,520 ERS Tier 1 members. Today’s post looks at the major Tier 1 retirement plan in ERS – the New Career Plan (Section 75-h or 75-i).
If you’re an ERS Tier 1 member in an alternate plan, you can find your retirement plan publication below for more detailed information about your benefits:

When you joined the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), you were assigned to a tier based on the date of your membership. There are six tiers in the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) and five in the Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) – so there are many different ways to determine benefits for our members. Our series, NYSLRS – One Tier at a Time, walks through each tier and gives you a quick look at the benefits members are eligible for before and at retirement.

Today’s post looks at Tier 1 in the Police and Fire Retirement System, which has only 123 members. PFRS Tier 1 represents the smallest percentage – 0.4 percent – of NYSLRS’ total membership.

If you’re a PFRS Tier 1 member, you can find your retirement plan publication below for more detailed information about your benefits:

Be on the lookout for more NYSLRS – One Tier at a Time posts. Next time, we’ll take a look at another one of our ERS tiers. Want to learn more about the different NYSLRS retirement tiers? Check out some earlier posts in the series: